Misguided
by Harmonics
Summary: When Draco is dragged to the Greengrass estate for a visit, it turns out to be more worth his while then he had imagined.


This is the first One Shot I've done that has Astoria in it. I love her character though, because JKR didn't give her a personality, so now we as writers get to write her however we want, which is nice!

Anyways, I hope you enjoy the one shot!

Disclaimer: Everything Harry Potter is owned by J.K. Rowling

_**Misguided **_

Draco had never liked coming here. His parents dragged him back with them every time they went for a visit. It was annoying how his father and Alphonse Greengrass were so friendly with each other. The truth of the matter was that the women, Narcissa Malfoy and Annalise Greengrass, had been friends since their days at Hogwarts. Otherwise, Draco had a feeling, they wouldn't have been here. Draco looked down at his feet as his parents started their friendly hellos.

"Draco dear," Narcissa said looking at her son. She looked rather pale, which was surprising, considering how pale she had been before. Her sharp blue eyes were sunken and had baggy purple rings under them from her lack of sleep. Her smile was tight and unhappy. Draco supposed he looked about the same, "Why don't you go say hello to Daphne?" She said urging him.

Draco stood in the parlor hesitantly, if it was up to him, he'd rather not go see Daphne. To tell the truth, she bugged the hell out of him. He wanted to smile at his mother, let her know that everything was okay, but he couldn't muster the gesture.

"She should be in the drawing room." Annalise said smiling at him.

Draco nodded curtly as he turned and pulled himself away from his parents and up the stairs. He wasn't planning on going to the drawing room, only Voldemort himself could force him to spend any amount of time with Daphne. No, he wouldn't talk to Daphne. Instead he was skulk around the manor, on his own little personal tour.

Just out of curiosity, Draco stopped in front of the drawing room before he went off on his own. The large double doors were open slightly. He wondered what Daphne was doing in there anyways. Peeking in, he could see that she probably wasn't in a big hurry to be in his presence either.

Blaise Zambini was currently taking up a seat across from her. A Wizard Chess board was in between them. As like always, Daphne was dressed in a short school skirt and a none to modest blouse. But Blaise didn't even seem to notice. His eyes were centered on the board, and only the board. Blaise mumbled something, his chess piece moved, and Daphne let out a loud shriek.

"I don't understand how you win all the time!" She yelled as she stood abruptly.

Blaise laughed, "I'm skilled in chess. Trust me, my mother has nothing better to do then annoy me over the whole break, I've had plenty of practice." He smiled at her.

Daphne sighed as she tossed her golden blond hair over her shoulder, Draco was sure her blue eyes were probably narrowed, "Fine," She said harshly, and then her tone became softer, "I didn't want to play chess anyways."

"What did you want to do then?" Blaise asked, completely oblivious to the tone of her voice.

Draco sighed and kept walking. Blaise would eventually become one of Daphne's sexual conquest. Who knew how long this one would last. When he was at the end of the hallway, he was surprised. Normally he would have loved to walk in and ruin Daphne's day. He scoffed, it didn't matter anymore.

Draco had gotten to another part of the manor. Looking down a long hallway that had a dead end on one side and turned again on the other, he stopped. He wasn't sure what he was hearing at that moment. Something soft. Something with a soft _plinking _noise. It was a piano, he realized.

He followed the sound down the length of the hallway and made a sharp turn to the left. He took notice of the portraits hanging in the hallways as he walked down the stretch of hallway. On the left side of the hallway were the masters of the manor. On the right side were the Mistresses of the manor. The Greengrass family line.

All of the women were light haired, had more of a milky hue to their skin and blue eyes. One of them that caught his attention was Carlotta Greengrass. She didn't look like all the others. Dark chocolate colored hair that flowed in wisps and curls over her shoulders. Her skin wasn't as light as the others, oddly tan. Her eyes though, they were green.

Draco scoffed, one of the Greengrass men must have gotten careless and had been put in a position to marry his mistress. How unfortunate for him. Draco was taken out of his thoughts by the sound of the piano again. The music had picked up, but in an instant it slowed down again, to a tune that was sad and oddly depressing. Whoever was playing was obviously classically trained.

Draco grew irritated when he couldn't think of the name of the piece, it sounded like a Greig, but he wasn't positive. Draco rounded the end of the hallway. Some feet down was a set of large, darkly stained, double oak doors. They were slightly ajar, and there was a soft light that was glowing out from the inside.

Draco took the few strides in between him and the doors. He was right outside now, not really knowing what was going to happen if he entered the room. He opened the door slightly, trying to make the least possible noise as he could. When he saw who was in there, he let out the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding.

It was a girl. She had dark coffee colored curls that tumbled over her back and down past her shoulder blades. She wasn't wearing much, only a knee length silk nightgown and a cotton shawl that was draped around her slender shoulders. The shawl was falling every time she moved a hand over the keys, so it had wrapped itself around her elbows instead.

Her hands, Draco noticed were small. But they moved fast as they glided over the keyboard elegantly. Draco watched the girl, entranced by the sound that she was making the piano produce, and the fact that her silk nightgown rode up around her thighs as she moved to play at the end of the keyboard. Watching her as intently as he could, Draco leaned back up against the wall to get in a comfortable position, only he knocked into something at the same time.

There was a loud shattering noise from behind him. He grasped at the wall to keep from falling. The noise on the piano dissipated and the girl bolted up with a little shriek. She turned to look at him with wide and worried eyes.

Her eyes, Draco noticed were green. They were like a does eyes, big and round with fluttering lashes. Her lips were set in a thin line as were her eyebrows. Her chest was heaving up and down as she stared at him, panicked. If she hadn't been scared out of her wits, Draco might have found the movement that her chest was making slightly intoxicating.

"Who are you!?" She asked as she stepped out from behind the piano bench and distanced herself from him as she walked around to the back of the piano, she hitched her shawl back up around her shoulders, covering her chest.

"Who are you?" Draco asked indignantly, who didn't know who he was?

"Excuse me, but this is my house. And it doesn't matter, I already know who you are." She muttered.

Draco raised his eyebrows, "You do?"

The girl narrowed her green eyes as her brow furrowed into an annoyed line, "You're Draco Malfoy, a Slytherin at Hogwarts," the girl frowned like she was tasting something bad in her mouth.

"I'm sorry my name leaves a bad taste in your mouth." He spat.

"Look at what you did." She sighed, obviously no longer afraid as she strode towards him. She bent down to look at the mess of broken glass that was laying all over the parquet floors.

He had broken a vase. No telling how much it probably had cost them. He really didn't care, he was only worried about how his parents were going to take it. The girl sat down on her knees, her shawl falling to the floor as she picked up little pieces and laid them on it.

"It was my grandmother's vase." She muttered to no one in particular.

Draco wasn't sure whether he should say sorry or not. After all it was just an accident. The girl, whoever she was, sucked in a sharp breath as she hurriedly brought her hand to her chest. She looked down at the hand she was cradling, and Draco could see a small red spot forming on the otherwise flawless silk nightgown.

She looked pathetic there on the ground, picking up a vase that a house elf should have been. And now she was bleeding all the place like a mere commoner. Draco sighed, he bent down, and without asking he grabbed her hand and pulled it towards him. In one swift motion he plucked out the piece of glass that had embedded itself in the palm of her hand.

He leaned over and grabbed the shawl that she had been using to collect the shattered pieces of the vase. He ripped off a section, again not caring about how much it cost. He wrapped it tightly around her palm, tying it in a little not on the back of her hand. Getting back up he scoffed at her.

"Get off of the floor."

The girl slowly raised from the wooden floor. She still had her hand pressed up against her body. She was looking at him with unsure eyes, but she held out her uninjured hand towards him.

"I'm Astoria." She said clearly, "Daphne's little sister."

Draco tentatively took her hand for a few seconds before letting it drop, "What year and house are you in?" He asked curiously.

"I would be a fourth year in the Slytherin house." She said slowly.

"Would be?" Draco asked, so she was two years younger then him.

"My parents aren't going to let me come back to the school this coming term I don't think." She muttered.

"Why not?" Draco asked, Hogwarts was still probably the safest place to be at the moment. And then he thought about what he was being forced to do. On second thought, maybe it wasn't.

"They are afraid, as are most families I suspect." Astoria said slowly, "They will most likely ship me off to Beauxbatons."

"What use will going to school with a bunch of French ninnies do for you?" Draco scoffed.

Astoria narrowed her eyes again, "You tell me what to do then. Apparently you deem yourself in the highest regard when coming to keeping people safe."

"Go to Hogwarts, it's safer there then any other place right now." Draco wasn't sure what he was saying, why did he care whether she was safe or not?

Astoria looked up at him, her eyes had softened a bit since his last snide comment. She chewed on her bottom lip, probably a nervous habit. She took a deep breath and then asked him, "Will you be there after break ends?" She looked at him, almost pleadingly.

"Of course I'll be there." He said indignantly, why bother to even ask, but it seemed as if this fifteen year old girl was hanging on to his every word. Like his enrollment mattered to her.

"Maybe I will return then." She whispered quietly.

Draco was going to say something to her, he didn't know what. The way the candle light was reflecting off of her skin made him grow mad, and he was starting to feel very claustrophobic with her standing so very close to him.

And then there was the matter of her hair. It was tumbling over her shoulders so seductively, like it was begging to have a pair of hands running through the warm brown tresses. Draco reached out a hand against his own better judgment. He grabbed a strand in his hands and just felt it. It was thick, and soft, just like it looked.

"What are you guys doing?" Astoria squeaked loudly like a mouse as she jumped away from Draco.

Blaise and Daphne were standing in the doorway of the Piano room. Daphne had her hands on her hips, and she didn't look very happy. While Blaise, looked perfectly content. Although he was sending Draco an amusing look of curiosity.

"You better not have touched my sister Malfoy." Daphne said as she walked past him over to her sister.

Draco sighed, "Wouldn't dream of it," He looked at the floor, "Only came because of the piano anyways."

Daphne huffed as she looked over her sister, obviously checking to see whether or not she had been defiled, "What happened to your hand?" Daphne asked as she grabbed it. She examined it closely before turning on Draco, "What did you do to her?"

"What are you yelling about Daphne dear?" Annalise and Narcissa made their way into the Piano room.

Daphne opened her mouth, probably to tell her mother that Draco had hurt Astoria, but she interrupted her sister, "I accidentally knocked over the vase, and Draco came when he heard the noise," She started looking at Draco, "I was trying to pick it up, but I cut myself on accident and he helped me wrap my hand up."

Annalise looked from Draco to Astoria, "You are to sweet Draco, thank you for helping my clumsy daughter." She smiled lightly at Astoria, taking her wand out from beneath her robes, Annalise waved it slowly at the broken shards, the vase reformed into perfect condition.

Draco looked at the girl. He wasn't sure why she would cover for him, but he wasn't complaining, "It was the least I could do Madam." Draco said politely.

Narcissa smiled at Annalise, "Is Astoria returning to school after the break?"

Annalise looked uncertain but she finally nodded, "Yes, I think she will be attending school after all."

"That's great," Narcissa looked at Draco, "Perhaps you could look after Astoria? I know it would make Annalise feel much better."

Draco wanted to groan. He was tethered to this little girl now. Although now that he looked at her, she didn't really have the features of a little girl, "Of course mother, it would be a pleasure."

Annalise smiled, and Narcissa held her arm out to take, "You have such an amazing and polite young boy Narcissa."

"I know." She sighed as she gave a fleeting glance towards Draco, a rather sad fleeting glance.

"This is stupid." Daphne muttered as she turned on her heel and stomped out of the room, Blaise gave Draco a weird look, but he followed Daphne out of the room, leaving Draco and Astoria alone.

"I'm sorry about my mother." She said slowly as she looked down at the floor.

Draco looked at her. What had he done? He'd just assured her that school was going to be safe for her to return. If he had been smarter, he would have told her to run. He would have told her to flee to France where she was safer. Draco knew the rest of how his sixth year was going to happen, and it wasn't safe for anyone. But he was selfish, and he wanted her there so he could look at her more.

"It's fine." Draco said as he turned on his heel, he stopped abruptly when he got to the door. He turned slightly to look at her, "You can sit in our compartment on the train with us if you'd like."

Astoria looked at him, her face brightening up, "Sure, I would like that."

Draco sighed as he closed the door behind him. That was what he was afraid of. He suddenly thought that he had done something worse then what he was going to do later this year. He had sent a girl into a danger zone. But knowing that he would see her face in the Slytherin Common room when they got back from break made him feel a little better.


End file.
